Speakers from the Hezbollah and Houthi terrorist organizations addressed students at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on Wednesday.
The event was part of annual “Israeli Apartheid Week” activities on campus and hosted by the Palestinian Speakers Forum (PSF). Israeli Apartheid Week takes place in March across campuses around the world.
The speakers who addressed students via Zoom were Dr. Ebrahim Al Mousawi, a member of the Lebanese parliament representing Hezbollah; and Hamid Rizq, a spokesperson for the Houthis from Yemen. Students were encouraged to attend and Rizq was billed as bringing “a special message to the students of UCT and South Africa.”
Neturei Karta spokesperson Yisroel Weiss also addressed students, saying that it was an honor and a privilege to be a part of the event and that Zionism would fall.
Speaking in Arabic, Rizq commented, “The poorest of nations [Yemen] is striking Israeli ships and imposing a naval blockade of Western countries’ shipping to the Zionist regime.”
In 2023, the university drew the ire of the Jewish community when three events featuring speakers from Hamas and Hezbollah were given platforms to address students.
When approached for comment last year, UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola, responding to inquiries from the South African Jewish Report newspaper, said, “UCT reiterates that student societies organize their events autonomously. Should any member of the UCT community have any issue about any event held on campus, they are urged to lodge a formal complaint through the relevant internal structures.”
Moholola further stated that events hosted by student organizations were not institutional events. He said UCT management was not involved in inviting the speakers, “nor does management necessarily align with any views held or expressed by any invited speaker.”
South Africa does not recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
